Spring training is approaching fast, and with it the storylines for the 2026 Philadelphia Phillies season are starting to form. One of the predominant ones so far is the impending influx of youth that is due to make its way to the Major League roster from the farm. It’s something the Phillies haven’t seen in quite some time, so it will no doubt be one of the biggest themes of the spring.
One of those youths to be leading the movement is Justin Crawford. It is widely expected, and the team has almost confirmed as much by their words and their actions, that Crawford will be the team’s everyday starting center fielder when camp breaks in late March. It will likely be a highly anticipated debut, as calls for Crawford’s promotion reached a fever pitch last year before the team acquired Harrison Bader in a deadline trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Recent prospect rankings all have Crawford sitting somewhere among the top 50 to 60 prospects in baseball and among the top for outfielders. He has performed well at every level in the Minor Leagues, capped off with his 2025 season at Triple-A where he hit .334 with an .863 OPS across 112 games. But as you’re no doubt aware by now, he has some flaws that include a high groundball rate and a very “work-in-progress” look in center field.
Nevertheless, Crawford figures to get plenty of chances to prove himself at the Major League level in 2026. As mentioned before, he projects to start in center field and likely bat ninth in the Phillies lineup. If he can get on base with any sort of consistency, he could be a major run scoring factor with his speed on the bases ahead of the top of the order.
FanGraphs’ ZIPS projection for Crawford in 2026 is a .286/.337/.390 batting line with 1.5 WAR. If we use that as a baseline, what are your realistic expectations for Justin Crawford in 2026? Will he outperform those projections or underperform? Will he take the starting CF job and run with it, or will he struggle out of the gate? What’s your prediction for a final batting line?